

Blog Entries
Conditions of Use
|

Waterfalls
Waterfalls: The Beautiful Creation
All the water coming from the mountain side…so beautiful yet it can be dangerous. You can see them when you are in the mountains. A waterfall is having a slope of 30 degree is a waterfall. What am I talking about? Waterfalls.
Formation
Are you wondering how waterfalls are formed? Waterfalls are formed by erosion. The river and the rain carry the sediments down the mountain side. Erosion means that the sediments get moved around. Sediments are rocks that get broken into smaller pieces by agents such as water, wind, and ice. But in waterfalls, only water causes erosion. Soft rock erodes more quickly than hard rocks. So you get a difference in level – and that’s a waterfall. So what makes a big waterfall? It takes over thousands, even million years to form a waterfall!!! If the river has a small amount of water (cascade) then the waterfall is small. Waterfalls form where water flows from hard to soft rock. Soft rock erodes faster, creating a vertical drop over the hard rock edge.
Waterfalls occur when band of rock crosses under a river. The water can’t wear the hard rock down, but it wears down soft rock, eventually this creates a steep drop.
Plunge Pool
When the water hits the bottom, after years and years they form a little bowl at the bottom of a waterfall that is called a boiling pot or plunge pool. In the plunge pool when an animal or anything comes down a waterfall it falls at the Boiling Pot and dies. They die because the water tends to go in circles and the animals can’t get out.
Millions of Years
Some waterfalls are incredibly high and some can be small, but have a large amount of water. Some are very high but have a small amount of water. So what makes a big waterfall? It takes over thousands, even million years to form a waterfall!!!
Location
You find waterfalls in every single continent except in Antarctica because the crust, a hard rock that is on top of the magma, is ice (all water) so there can’t be any waterfalls.
One of the famous fall, Victoria Falls, was formed in another way. The Zambezi River flowed along a gigantic crack then the rock eroded or got soft. The crack got bigger and bigger and the river flowed in the crack and became a waterfall.
One of the famous fall, Victoria Falls, was formed in another way. The Zambezi River flowed along a gigantic crack then the rock eroded or got soft. The crack got bigger and bigger and the river flowed in the crack and became a waterfall.
Waterfalls can be exquisite. I think in the future waterfalls will keep growing. I think water will continue to erode the waterfall’s side. I hope you enjoyed learning about waterfalls. They can be (based on their features) ledge falls, slide falls, parallel falls, staircase falls (my favorite), and combination falls.3 m and very steep
Article posted April 1, 2011 at 05:55 AM •
comment (1) • Reads 797
•
Return to Blog List
Add a Comment
Posted Comments

Frankly I think that's absolutely good stuff.
Comment Posted on October 15, 2012 at 11:47 PM by
Gandhi

|
|